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Meshuggah
Meshuggah is a Swedish extreme metal band from Umeå, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992. The band has gone through a number of bassists, with the position currently being held by Dick Lövgren since 2004. Meshuggah first attracted international attention with the 1995 release Destroy Erase Improve for its fusion of fast-tempo death metal, thrash metal and progressive metal with jazz fusion elements. Since its 2002 album Nothing, Meshuggah has switched from seven-string to downtuned eight-string guitars. Meshuggah has become known for their innovative musical style, complex, polymetere] song structures and polyrhythms. Meshuggah was labeled as one of the ten most important hard rock and heavy metal bands by Rolling Stone and as the most important band in metal by Alternative Press. Meshuggah has found little mainstream success as yet, but is a significant act in extreme underground music. Since its formation, Meshuggah has released seven studio albums, seven EPs and eight music videos. The band has performed in various international festivals, including Ozzfest and Download, and embarked on the ''obZen'' world tour from 2008 to 2010. Meshuggah's latest studio album, Koloss, was released on March 23, 2012. Nothing and the albums that followed have all charted on the Billboard 200. Meshuggah's most commercially successful album, Koloss, debuted at number 17 in the USA, with first week sales of 18,342 copies. In 2006 and 2009, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award. History Formation and Contradictions Collapse (1987–1994) in 2007]] In 1985, guitarist Fredrik Thordendal formed a band in Umeå, |publisher = Allmusic|title = Meshuggah Biography|author = Jason Ankeny and Bradley Torreano|accessdate = 2008-05-11}} a college town in northern Sweden with a population of 105,000. The band, originally named Metallien, recorded a number of demo tapes, after which it disbanded. Thordendal, however, continued playing under a different name with new band members. Meshuggah was formed in 1987 by vocalist and guitarist Jens Kidman, and took the name Meshuggah from the Hebrew word for "crazy". The band recorded several demos before Kidman left, which prompted the remaining members to disband. Kidman then formed a new band, Calipash, with guitarist Thordendal, bassist Peter Nordin and drummer Niklas Lundgren. Kidman, who also played guitar, and Thordendal decided to restore the name Meshuggah for the new band. In 1989, Meshuggah released the self-titled, three-song EP Meshuggah, which is commonly known as Psykisk Testbild (a title that could be translated as "Psychological Test-Picture"). This 12" (30 cm) vinyl EP had only 1,000 copies released, sold by local record store Garageland. The EP's back cover features the band members with cheese doodles on their faces. After replacing drummer Niklas Lundgren with Tomas Haake in 1990, Meshuggah signed a contract with German heavy metal record label Nuclear Blast and recorded its debut full-length album, Contradictions Collapse. |publisher = Allmusic|title = Meshuggah Biography|author = Jason Ankeny and Bradley Torreano|accessdate = 2008-05-11}} The LP, originally entitled (All this because of) Greed, was released on October 1, 1991. The album received positive reviews, but was not a commercial success. Soon after, Kidman decided to concentrate on vocals, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who had already played in a band with Haake when they were in the sixth grade, was recruited. The new lineup recorded the EP None at Tonteknik Recordings in Umeå in 1994 for release later that year. |publisher = Allmusic|title = None overview|author = |accessdate = 2008-08-28}} A Japanese version was also released, including lyrics printed in Japanese. During this period, Thordendal, who was working as a carpenter, severed the tip of his left middle finger, while Haake injured his hand in a grinder accident. As a result, the band was unable to perform for several months. Thordendal's fingertip was later reattached, and he went on to make a full recovery. The Selfcaged EP was recorded in April and May 1994, but its release was delayed to later in 1995 due to the accidents. Destroy Erase Improve (1995–1997) with a custom built Ibanez eight-string guitar in Bologna, Italy, 2008]] In January 1995, Meshuggah undertook a short European tour organized by its record label Nuclear Blast. Afterwards, the band returned to the studio to record the album Destroy Erase Improve at Soundfront Studios in Uppsala, with Daniel Bergstrand as a producer. Shortly thereafter, the band went on a European tour supporting Machine Head for two months. During the tour, Nordin became ill and experienced difficulties with his inner ear balance. Due to the resulting chronic dizziness and vertigo, Nordin was forced to leave the tour and travel to Sweden. Machine Head's bassist Adam Duce offered to cover his absence; however, Meshuggah decided to continue as a four-piece. Sometimes Thordendal played bass, while other times the band performed with two guitars. In this lineup, Hagström would use a pitch shifter to play his guitar at an octave lower than usual. Destroy Erase Improve was released in July 1995, with positive response from critics for the "heady tempos and abstract approach". |publisher = Allmusic|title = Destroy Erase Improve review|author = John Serba|accessdate = 2008-06-10}} Kidman described the album cover: "The title fits the pictures we cut out and stole from reference books in the library." In mid-1995, Meshuggah had a short tour with Swedish band Clawfinger in Scandinavia and Germany. Nordin had to leave the band because of his sickness and was replaced by bassist Gustaf Hielm during the tour. In late 1995, Meshuggah went on a month-long tour with Hypocrisy. During 1996 and 1997, Thordendal worked on his solo album Sol Niger Within, which was released in March 1997 in Scandinavia and in April in Japan. He also hosted Mats/Morgan Band's debut. In 1997, Meshuggah recorded an unreleased demo, toured occasionally, and played a few concerts in its hometown. In May, Meshuggah moved to Stockholm to be closer to its management and the record industry in general. The EP The True Human Design was recorded and released in late 1997. It contained one new song entitled "Sane", and one live and two alternate versions of Destroy Erase Improve's opening track "Future Breed Machine". Thordendal's solo album Sol Niger Within was simultaneously released in the United States, and Meshuggah started to plan its next album at the end of the year. Chaosphere and Nothing (1998–2002) Hielm officially joined the band in January-1998 after more than two years as a session member. Nuclear Blast re-released Contradictions Collapse with the addition of songs from the None EP. In May 1998, the title of the next album, Chaosphere, was reported and recording began. Immediately after recording the album, Meshuggah went on a short US tour, and the album was released later in November 1998. Shortly after the release, Meshuggah toured Scandinavia with Entombed. In early 1999, Meshuggah joined Slayer on their U.S. tour. After the new album and the live performances, Meshuggah was beginning to be recognized by mainstream music, guitar, drum and metal magazines. In mid-1999, Meshuggah performed in several Swedish concerts. The band started to write some new material but reported in mid-2000 that "songwriting isn't that dramatic, but we're getting there slowly". While fans were waiting for the next album, a collection of demos (from the Psykisk Testbild EP), remixes and unreleased songs from the Chaosphere sessions were released as the Rare Trax album. Hielm left the band in July 2001 for unclear reasons. Meshuggah joined Tool on a lengthy tour, playing for more than 100,000 people total. In March 2002, Meshuggah recorded three-track demos with programmed drums in their home studio, which were based on Haake's sample Drumkit from Hell. The upcoming album was recorded in five to six weeks in May and was produced by the band at Dug-Out Studios in Uppsala and at its home studio in Stockholm. The last-minute decision to join 2002's Ozzfest tour forced the band to mix the album in two days and master it in one. Meshuggah immediately went on another US tour after finishing the recording. The album Nothing was released in August 2002, |publisher = Allmusic|title = Nothing review|author = John Serba|accessdate = 2008-06-10}} selling 6,525 copies during its first week in the US and reaching No. 165 on the ''Billboard'' 200. With this album, Meshuggah became the first band in the history of Nuclear Blast Records to crack the Billboard 200 and also became the first band signed to Nuclear Blast to be reviewed in Rolling Stone magazine. Meshuggah's previous two releases, 1998's Chaosphere and 1995's Destroy Erase Improve, have sold 38,773 and 30,712 copies to that date, respectively. The CD booklet of Nothing has no liner notes, lyrics, or credits, only a hint of one word: ingenting, which is Swedish for nothing. All of this information is available on the CD-ROM. At the end of 2002, the band went on another US tour with Tool and a headlining tour of its own. I'' and ''Catch Thirtythree (2003–2006) In 2003, Hagström hinted at the direction of the band's next album by saying, "There's only one thing I really feel that is important. We've never measured our success in terms of sales, because we're quite an extreme band. It's more that people understand where we're coming from. I get more out of a fan coming up and saying that we've totally changed their way of looking on metal music, than having like 200 kids buy it. I mean, it would be nice for the money, but that's not why we're in it. So what I'd like to see is that we keep progressing. Keeping the core of what Meshuggah has always been, but exploring the bar, so to speak. Destroy Erase Improve was like exploring the dynamics of the band, Chaosphere was exploring the aggressiveness, the all-out side, and Nothing is more of a sinister, dark, pretty slow album, actually. So honestly, now I don't know where we're going. It might be a mix of all of them." , who joined Meshuggah in February 2004]] In February 2004, bassist Dick Lövgren joined Meshuggah. The band then recorded and released the ''I'' EP, which contains a single, 21-minute track, released on Fractured Transmitter Records. Meshuggah spent about six months in total on recording the EP. Catch Thirtythree, the only Meshuggah album on which programmed drums have been used, was released the following year in May 2005. Seven thousand copies of Catch Thirtythree were sold the first week, and it debuted at No. 170 on the Billboard 200 chart in June 2005. The video for the track "Shed" was released in June, and the previous album Nothing sold approximately 80,000 copies in the United States to that date, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Catch Thirtythree earned the band a Swedish Grammy nomination. In December 2005, 10 years after signing its first record deal with the publishing company Warner/Chappell Music Scandinavia, Meshuggah extended its cooperation with the company. In November 2005, Haake said in an interview that the band was not content with the productions of Chaosphere and Nothing, because, being on tour, they had little time to devote to them. | publisher = Allmusic | title = Nothing CD/DVD review | author = Thom Jurek | accessdate = 2008-11-16 }} A remixed and remastered version of Nothing with rerecorded guitars was released in a custom-shaped slipcase featuring a three-dimensional hologram card on October 31, 2006, via Nuclear Blast Records. The release also includes a bonus DVD featuring the band's appearance at the Download 2005 festival and the official music videos of "Rational Gaze", "Shed" and "New Millennium Cyanide Christ". obZen, Koloss, and Pitch Black (2007–present) Meshuggah returned to the studio to record obZen, which was released in March 2008. The band spent almost a year on the album, its longest recording session yet. A significant portion of the year was spent learning to perform the songs they wrote; the recording itself took six months. obZen reached No. 59 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 11,400 U.S. copies in its first week of release and 50,000 copies after six months. With obZen, Meshuggah received more media attention and attracted new fans. The release was followed by a world tour, which started in the U.S. and proceeded to Europe, Asia and Australia. In May 2008, Meshuggah published a music video for the song "Bleed", which was produced by Ian McFarland and was written, directed and edited by Mike Pecci and Ian McFarland. Killswitch Productions said: "It's extremely cool to work with a band who is willing to allow the music and imagery to speak for itself and who does not insist on themselves being the prominent focus of the video." In January 2009, obZen was nominated for the Swedish Grammis award in the "Best Hard Rock" category. In February 2009, Haake announced that the band was planning a concert DVD and a studio album. In April, Meshuggah was forced to cancel its Scandinavian shows in early 2009, due to Haake's herniated disc in his lower back, which was causing problems with his right foot when playing. Haake later underwent a surgery and recovered for European summer festivals. The concert DVD entitled Alive was released on February 5, 2010 in Europe and February 9 in North America. Thordendal started to work on a second solo album in June 2010 with the Belgian drummer Dirk Verbeuren. The newest studio album, Koloss, was released on March 23, 2012 in Germany, on March 26 in the rest of Europe, and March 27 in North America.Mehsuggah: New Album Release Date Announced - Jan. 4, 2012. Blabbermouth.net. Koloss reached No. 17 on the Billboard Top 200, and sold 18,342 copies in its first week.http://www.skullsnbones.com/profiles/blogs/meshuggah-makes-nuclear-blast-history-with-koloss In Sweden, it reached No. 12.http://www.nuclearblast.de/en/label/company/charts.html On February 5, 2013, Meshuggah released a free two-track EP entitled Pitch Black with Scion A/V. The EP features a previously unreleased track, "Pitch Black", that was recorded by Fredrik Thordendal in 2003 at Fear and Loathing, in Stockholm Sweden. The second track is a live recording of "Dancers to a Discordant System" from ObZen. The track was recorded at ''Distortion Fest'' in Eindhoven, Netherlands, on December 9, 2012. Members ;Current members * Jens Kidman – lead vocals (1987–present), rhythm guitar (1987–1992) * Fredrik Thordendal – lead guitar, backing vocals (1987–present) * Mårten Hagström – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (1993–present) * Dick Lövgren – bass (2004–present) * Tomas Haake – drums, spoken word vocals (1990–present) ;Former members * Niklas Lundgren – drums (1987–1990) * Peter Nordin – bass (1987–1995) * Gustaf Hielm – bass (1995–2001) Discography ;Studio albums * Contradictions Collapse (1991) * Destroy Erase Improve (1995) * Chaosphere (1998) * Nothing (2002) * Catch Thirtythree (2005) * obZen (2008) * Koloss (2012) ;Compilation albums * Rare Trax (2001) ;EPs * Psykisk Testbild (1989) * None (1994) * Selfcaged (1995) * The True Human Design (1997) * I (EP) (2004) References External links * Official Website * Meshuggah on Facebook Category:Swedish bands Category:Swedish avant-garde metal bands Category:Avant-garde metal bands